Making a Profound Difference

 

God is the Potter, and we are the clay (Isaiah 64:8). We are the vessel that contains the liquid. Satan attempts to keep our focus on our innate beauty as a crafted container, or he draws our attention to the flaws and cracks.

However, these do not matter in the larger scheme of life. When we are thirsty, we do not admire the glass, we gulp the liquid in the glass.

We are not the focus in this relationship, but Christ IN us is the focus. We are simply clay jars, made from the dust of the earth; yet, as Born Again Believers, we contain the God of the universe (Colossians 1:27).

Although we are dying daily in our body and carnal nature, God's Spirit give us life (Romans 8:10). God fills us with His presence and Spirit to sanctify our soul and complete us in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11; Colossians 2:10).

Realizing that we are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God, we relinquish our goals and allow Christ to live through us (Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20).

Christ shines from our heart and radiates to the world around us in the same way in which the light from a bulb emits light in a dark room. We make a profound difference.

We are so united with Christ that His thoughts fill our mind, His wisdom directs our steps, His life flows through us like a river and His love radiates in us and from us (Philippians 2:5; James 1:5; John 7:38; Isaiah 58:11).

Prayer:

Father God, Your grace draws us to Jesus, keeps us pursuing holiness and finishes our perfection through sanctification (1 John 3:2). Jesus is our advocate with You (1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us before You (Romans 8:26).

You each have your function as a person of the Trinity and You complete us within and without (Colossians 2:10). You direct our steps and use us for Your glory to advance Your Kingdom in the earth (Luke 17:21).

Thought for the Day:

Living in the center of God’s will is the happiest place on earth.

Every Thought Captive

We live in this world in our body with all of its carnal appetites; however, our true battle is not in our body. The battle is not earthly or human, but spiritual. The divine power of Christ in us is capable of destroying every fortress, which Satan builds in our soul with his lies. God’s Spirit in us is capable of destroying every assumption and haughty thought, which tries to replace our knowledge of God’s Truth (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

This only happens when we take every thought captive and force it into obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We cannot overcome Satan’s stranglehold in our mind with our carnal resources. His strongholds are catalogued in our subconscious mind through our lifetime of experiences (www.theophostic.com). Our thoughts control what we say and how we act. We need the divine power of Christ in us to set us free.

Do we speak unholy words and do carnal deeds, or is our behavior Christ-like and holy? Do we feel negative emotions fueled by the disappointments and discouragement in our life, or do we feel positive emotions emerging from the mind of Christ within us? Do we pursue God’s will for our life, or are we immersed in our own goals and aspirations?

Do we insist on our own way, treat God like a magic genie and retain the control over our life? God encourages us to ask for what we need (John 15:7), but only as His Words abide in us and we walk in His will. We are the servants, and Jesus is our Lord. We have no rights and privileges other than what He grants to us. He is the potter, and we are the clay (Isaiah 45:9).

As we center our thoughts on Him and His will, we start to think only about what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). God is the beginning and the end of our existence (Hebrews 12:2). We rejoice in Him, as He makes us complete in Him. We are comforted by His presence and we live in peace in His everlasting arms (2 Corinthians 13:11). 

Prayer:

Father God, You keep us in perfect peace as we focus our mind on You (Isaiah 26:3). Through Your power, You produce in us every good thought, word and deed, which pleases You. We trust in You implicitly, and we look to You for all of our needs. We give you all the glory both now and forever (Hebrews 13:21).

Thought for the Day:

God equips us with everything we need to do His will.

- Hebrews 13:21

Rising Above Circumstances

Read: Psalm 42:5,11

"He is the health of my countenance." - Psalm 43:5

Circumstances come into our life throughout the day that tax our emotional and physical energy. But, I have great news…

We do not have to overcome our daily trials; we just need to find God in the center of them.

He is always interacting with His world in and through us. He is the vine; we are the branches. He is the potter; we are the clay. He is the power; we are the conductors. God is the great "I AM" (John 8:58), and He is all, and He is in all (Ephesians 4:6).

Circumstances often affect us in a negative way. We do not need to stay trapped in that circumstance, however. We can use the Serenity Prayer and hear God’s desire for each situation. Then, we deal with the components of the circumstance if we are able, or we put them in God’s capable hands if we are not able to deal with them. The Lord of peace Himself will give us His peace at all times and in every way (1 Thessalonians 3:16). Then we can go right on to the very next moment - experiencing each and every moment of the day fully and deliberately.

The Lord is the health of our countenance. Our countenance is our facial and bodily language. They display the attitude of our mind, will and emotions, which come from our soul. As we focus on Christ in us, He radiates in us and through our countanence. Our communion with God opens our hearts to feel more intensely than we are capable of feeling in our own emotional capacity. We become linked as one with the heart of God.

What brings Him joy becomes our pleasure. What grieves His Spirit becomes our own lament. We see life from His viewpoint rather than from our own petty concerns. This is where abiding in the Vine allows us to sway serenely in the gale of any storm. With God in us, we can rise above every circumstance.

  
Often we spin our wheels, because we are trying to accomplish great things for the Lord without even listening to His Holy Spirit. We live a fulfilling life only as we allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, and then as we do ONLY those things which He directs us to do. Henry Blackabe in Experiencing God puts it this way, "Find out what God is doing, and then join Him." 

Several years ago, I heard one man ask his friend, “How are you today?”

His friend responded, “Well, I’m not very good, under the circumstances.”
The man replied, “Well, what are you doing under there?”

If you want to be discouraged, look at your past. If you want to be stressed, look ahead. If you want to be content, look with God’s eternal perspective at the present moment. This is what we call “walking in the Spirit,” "walking in the here and now," and "being present in the moment."  We really can learn not to worry about tomorrow (Luke 12:22), but to fully enjoy the moment, which God gives us to serve Him.    

Prayer:        

Lord Jesus, help us to rise above the natural components of our circumstances by having an eternal focus about life. Help us to remember that You are the Creator of all things and that the power of the Trinity abides within us (Colossians 2:9). We can change our lives by changing our focus from the troubles and trials of our circumstances to the eternal perspective of the peace and joy You help us to find in the midst of them.

Thought for the Day:

Each new moment is the first moment of the rest of your life!